No-Queso Quesadillas

I got a craving for quesadillas after seeing a recipe for them in the current Vegetarian Times—which is odd because I don’t think I’ve ever had a quesadilla. Like a lot of popular foods (buffalo wings is another that comes to mind), quesadillas didn’t come on the scene until after I’d become a vegan. So on the one hand, I don’t really miss what I never had, but on the other, I’m never quite sure what all the fuss is about. And the existence of all these post-vegan foods can leave me feeling pretty old: Like counting the rings to figure out the age of a tree, you can determine the age of a vegan by counting the foods she’s never had!

While it was strange that I was craving a quesadilla, I was fairly sure I knew how one would taste; after all, it’s just melted cheese in a tortilla, both of which I have had. To make a fairly authentic-tasting vegan version, I could simply use one of the packaged vegan cheeses that are becoming more widely available. I’ve sampled several (Teese, Sheese, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart, to name three), and I’ve found them pretty tasty. But if you turn the package over and read the nutritional info, you’ll find that all of them contain a humongous amount of fat. The mozzarella from Follow Your Heart, the only brand I can buy locally, contains 8 grams of fat in one ounce. I’m guessing that I would need at least 8 ounces of cheese to make these quesadillas, bringing the total fat just from the cheese to 64 grams, or 16 grams per serving. That’s pretty ridiculous for something that’s essentially a snack.

So, I did my arteries a favor, skipped the packaged cheese, and made my quesadillas with a nutritional yeast-based cheese. My no-queso quesadillas didn’t really taste like cheesy ones, but I thought they were great, melty and full of flavor, and daughter E gave them 4 out of 5 Num-Crumbs on her new rating system. But please don’t go out and make these for your non-vegan friends. I’m afraid that you’ll be disappointed in their reaction and they’ll come away with the impression that vegan food is even weirder than they thought it was. But, if you like nutritional yeast sauces, I think you’ll find these as tasty as I did.

No-Queso Quesadillas

I think these quesadillas taste best when they’re filled with something in addition to the cheesy sauce. I made them both plain and with spinach, but you can experiment with other fillings. Just don’t add too much or the whole thing may fall apart as you flip it. And be sure to pre-cook any vegetables that you don’t want crunchy.

Instructions

Put all sauce ingredients (water through tahini) into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a medium non-stick saucepan, add the salsa, and stir as you bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to cook, stirring, for at least 2 minutes after boiling. Sauce should be thick and smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet. Place 1 tortilla in the skillet and cook until brown spots begin to appear on the bottom. Flip over. Spread half of the “cheese” over the tortilla. (If you are adding any other fillings place them on top of the cheese.) Cover with another tortilla. Cover pan and cook for a minute or two, until the bottom tortilla is golden brown. Carefully flip the whole thing over and cook until the bottom tortilla has browned. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into four triangles with a pizza cutter.

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Maybe I haven't been cheese-free long enough (only a year…) but UCK! I have yet to find anything that replaces cheese in any recipe, or in any grocery store. I tried to like this but I just couldn't…Even when I fried the tortilla with Earth Balance spread…

When I first went vegetarian, I ate vegetable quesadillas for every meal! I stopped eating them for a while after I went vegan because I don’t like to use much fake cheese, but have started making them again recently with a small amount of fake cheese (generally one ripped up slice between 2 tortillas), a sprinkling of black beans, some cilantro and mashed sweet potato. They’re definitely not authentic, but they are very delicious and easy to make if you have spare cooked beans that need to be used up. I’ve also made the yucca version in Veganomicon, which was very tasty. In any case, if you’re not 100% sure about this cheese filling on its own, try pairing it with some of these fillings and it may blend more instead of being the obvious main ingredient.

I have recently found 2 amazing types of “cheese” that I wanted to share with everyone. One is a speadable cheese from the Wayfare Foods Inc, I believe it is a newer vegan company, anyway they use oatmeal as their base for the cheese. The product is called “We Can’t Say It’s Cheese” and they have different flavors. Here’s the link to their website…http://www.wayfarefoods.com/

The next cheese is Dayia which I’m sure you all have heard of. You can get this in Whole Foods. But putting both of these cheeses together makes an awesome grilled cheese sandwich!! I’m just so happy that I’ve found them.

Whole Foods had the Dayai cheese shredded in their salad bar, and under the ingredient list there was a note saying that it contained soy and wheat…so it must be one of the hidden ingredients. There is an Italian eatery near me that has an entire vegan menu, but i have had a gluten reaction after eating there and i’m now sure it’s because they use the Dayai cheese…too bad, because it is good!

This looks great. I’ve had nutritional yeast in my cupboard for well over a year but I’ve been too afraid to use it. I think I’ll have to give this one a go! I love the comment about not giving it to your nonvegan friends

We love so many of your recipes… unfortunately this was a flop with my kids. We’ve only been off dairy for a month or two so they clearly remember what cheese tastes like and this wasn’t close enough for their taste buds. I enjoyed it though.

I made these yesterday when I had a quesadilla craving. True, vegan cheese never has the same flavor as animal products, but it is still tasty when you miss a former comfort food. The cheese sauce whips up in a snap, and I am very impressed with how easy and delicious this recipe is. Thank you for making all of these wonderful recipes available for free!

I am fom AZ, hubby from CA….you can make quesadillas with creamy refried beans and a bit of salsa, or roasted onions and peppers…likewise even a bit of avocado or butternut sqush gives creamy illusion with a tiny sprinkle of a shredded “mock cheese”. I like mine toasted in the oven folded in half, but it can be done on a skillet, just hard not to burn without oil. Enjoy.

I made these tonight , the “cheese ” sauce it was excellent. I used soy curls that had been prepared with the ” no-chicken” bouillon inside as well, a side of avocado and it made a wonderful meal. Thanks again

I am lact0-vegetarian and trying to be a Fat-Free vegan like you but struggling and /or wrestling in the kitchen with my wife on a daily basis. I guess you can come up with innovation and help me out.

I can’t convince my wife to cook without oil. I wonder how do use Apple Sauce?

Also, you should look at all the Indian Sweets where we use a lot of Ghee (Purified Butter) and Milk and Sugar to make sweet dishes/ deserts but you need to show your creativity to convert them into healthy sweets without Milk and Ghee and Sugar. It would be a big help to the community.

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